MARCH 17, 2009 The Dissing of Laura Bush By WILLIAM MCGURN By choosing Fort Bragg for her first official trip outside the capital last Thursday, Michelle Obama signaled that she will use her position as First Lady to promote one of America's most deserving causes: our military families. Plainly the families loved it. Just look at the smiles on those children as she read them "The Cat in the Hat." So it was just a little disconcerting the next morning to hear the First Lady explain how she came to this issue during last year's campaign. "I think I was...

Former first lady Laura Bush says she didn't watch President Barack Obama's speech to Congress because "I just totally forgot about it." But Mrs. Bush hasn't become totally disengaged from politics in the roughly five weeks since she and her husband, George W. Bush, moved out of the White House. She says, for example, that she remains very interested in what happens in Afghanistan, calling Obama's developing policy there "encouraging." Mrs. Bush made women's rights issues in Afghanistan a personal priority, and she visited there alone on at least two occasions. She said the fact she overlooked Obama's speech was...

Former President George W. Bush will embark next month on a series of speeches that will take him to Canada, the U.S., Europe and Asia, advisers said. The former president already has plans for about 10 speeches over the next year, and will do more. During his final news conference, Bush had predicted that he would be back in the saddle quickly. He has stuck to that: An offering for speeches went up on the Washington Speakers Bureau website on Jan. 29, the week after he left the White House. The president, who moved to Dallas last week after spending...

We have discussed both on the dose and privately via freepmail as to what we may do in the future of the dose. It is suggested that a thread is posted where anyone can post photos or news of George W Bush and if you so wish any other member of his administration as to what they are doing or hope to do in the future and the idea is that this thread will cover January 2009 news and photos as well as being a recap of the last few days of the George W Bush Presidency plus events that...

n a Daily Beast exclusive, a former Bush advisor files his account—and his photos—from aboard the former president’s flight back to Texas. Knowing it would be impossible to get out of the city Tuesday morning, many of us arrived Monday night at the very funky Econo Lodge by Air Force Andrews Base. The Blair House it was not. But good to be humbled on the way out. We jumped in a van in the morning and watched Obama’s inaugural address from the lobby at Andrews. The group of 100 or so watching, of which 100 percent were George Bush supporters,...

Today, we witness the end of an era. While that cliche recalls a bit of nostalgia and even a bit of sorrowful histrionics, we nonetheless realize the impact the past eight years have had on us as Americans and as individuals. Eight years ago we welcomed a straight-talking, steel backboned cowboy as the 43rd President of the United States. Detractors already had him labeled as the spoiled rich kid. Yet, there was something about him that reached to everyday Americans. He wasn't the typical polished politician. He didn't get caught up in the hyperbole of oration. He laughed at himself...

Mrs. Obama Comes Bearing Gifts January 20, 2009 10:18 AM One reason Michelle Obama might be so popular at the White House coffee this morning is that she brought gifts. From ABC's Sunlen Miller: "Upon arriving at the White House, this morning Michelle Obama presented Mrs. Bush with a gift. It was a pen and journal for her memoirs." The thing is, we all know what the gift is now, but Mrs. Bush might not! The eagle-eyed Ann Compton reports: "Laura took the box inside but didnt open it ... she could be seen as she handed it to an...

This is the fourth and final part of the 2008 review and as was true for parts one and two and three the following photos may not necessarily be the best photos or the most important but they are chosen because they appeal to me and hopefully to you as well. It maybe because of the content, the expression on the face(s) or just an unusual photo. As I explained there are so many photos I have split this thread into 4 the first one being January - March, the second April - June, the third July - September, and...

This is the third part of the 2008 review and as was true for parts one and two the following photos may not necessarily be the best photos or the most important but they are chosen because they appeal to me and hopefully to you as well. It maybe because of the content, the expression on the face(s) or just an unusual photo. As I explained there are so many photos I have split this thread into 4 the first one being January - March, the second April - June and this one the the third one July - September,...

As I look back over the last eight years, I am filled with pride in my husband and his accomplishments. When George and I met, I fell in love with a man who is gracious, humble and sincere. And the qualities that I liked most in him are the same characteristics that have served our nation well in challenging times. George is a man with a heart for people. He is a loving husband and devoted father. He has great inner strength, which has allowed him to make the difficult decisions a president faces - not because they are popular,...

More lasts today … This morning President & Mrs. Bush departed the White House for Camp David, Maryland, where they will spend their last weekend as the First Couple before Tuesday’s inauguration. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gave her final press conference today at the State Department in Washington. She also met with Israel’s Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. Dr. Rice’s last official act as Secretary of State was signing a memorandum with Foreign Minister Livni that will help prevent arms smuggling to terrorists in Gaza. And today Press Secretary Dana Perino delivered the Administration’s final press briefing (Transcript). Dana took...

Today George W Bush visited the State Department for the last time as President where he presented the Medal of Freedom to Ambassador Ryan Crocker. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice presented the President with a memento displaying the flags of European nations that entered NATO during his time as President during the ceremony to commemorate foreign policy achievements at the State Department during his Presidency. Later this evening the President will address the nation for the final time. The Vice President took part in a mock swearing-in ceremony for Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and United...

Tickets to be made available beginning 10 a.m. today at city hall, the Midland chamber, the George W. Bush Childhood home and Kent Kwik locations. ### Midland city officials are working feverishly with White House officials to schedule what Mayor Wes Perry is calling “one of the most incredible events Midland has ever had.” That event, a “Welcome Home Rally for President and Mrs. George W. Bush,” is scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday, in Centennial Plaza, downtown Midland. Free tickets can be obtained beginning 10 a.m. today at Midland City Hall, 300 N. Loraine; the Midland Chamber of Commerce, 109...

Friends, Americans, conservatives; lend me your ears. I come to praise George W. Bush, not to bury him; I'll leave that to our famously unbiased media. *snip* We can also be pretty certain that his departure will not feature the ransacking of the Oval Office and Air Force One, or the sophomoric removal of the "O's" from White House keyboards. If, as has been the case for his entire presidency, he is true to his word, he will be as magnanimous to his successor as he was to his predecessor; notwithstanding the disrespect he received at the hands of both.

President Bush held his last Cabinet Meeting this morning TranscriptPresident Bush met this morning with President Calderón of MexicoTranscriptThis afternoon President Bush honored President Uribe, Prime Minister Howard, and Prime Minister Blair. Transcript Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island

This is the second part of the 2008 review and as was true for part one the following photos may not necessarily be the best photos or the most important but they are chosen because they appeal to me and hopefully to you as well. It maybe because of the content, the expression on the face(s) or just an unusual photo. As I explained there are so many photos I have split this thread into 4 the first one will be January - March, this one the the second one April - June, the third July - September and the...

President George W. Bush marked the anniversary of his No Child Left Behind law, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009, during a visit with students, teachers and national educators at the General Philip Kearny School in Philadelphia. Mrs. Laura Bush accompanied her husband. TRANSCRIPT Vice President Dick Cheney presided over a Joint Session of Congress today for the certification of the Electoral College votes. United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice returned to a meeting on the situation in Gaza at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

The President was honored with a Military Appreciation Parade at Fort Myer, Arlington, Virginia TranscriptFirst Lady Laura received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service from Defense Secretary Robert Gates,The President discussed Conservation and the Environment in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building TranscriptVice President Dick Cheney administered the Senate Oath to reelected senators Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island

First Lady Laura Bush snagged a seven-figure deal to write her life story for the Scribner imprint of Simon & Schuster. Bush is said to have received an advance of $1.6 million, according to one well-placed publishing source - although another source said it might have been "a little higher than that." The advance is said to be far below the $8 million that Hillary Clinton received from Simon & Schuster for "Living History," which became a runaway bestseller, moving more than 2.5 million copies. Instead, it's more in line with memoirs penned by Nancy Reagan and mother-in-law Barbara Bush,...

<p>NEW YORK – First lady Laura Bush, among the most reserved and enigmatic public figures of recent times, will, at last, tell her story.</p>
<p>How much she will disclose remains a mystery.</p>
<p>Bush has agreed to write a memoir with one of the world's oldest publishing houses, Scribner, the house of Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and the first lady's mother-in-law, Barbara Bush. Publication for the book, currently untitled, is scheduled for 2010.</p>

As George Bush’s presidency comes to an end, it seems a fitting time to acknowledge and honor the accomplishments of his wife, First Lady Laura Bush. This is especially important because Laura Bush has often been unfairly painted as a “typical Republican Stepford wife.” In addition, there have been rumors that finding a publisher for her memoirs has not been as easy as it has been for other first ladies, perhaps due to the media’s bias along with their stereotypical image of her. The fact is that Laura Bush has been working in an unassuming manner for eight years, advancing...

Laura Bush, Steel Magnolia Laura Bush has single-handedly restored the term, "lady," to the American vocabulary. And she has done it with such rare aplomb that nary a soul seems to have even noticed, which is precisely the way I'm convinced she planned it. I took an instant liking to Laura Bush; I won't deny it. After eight years of Hillary Clinton trying to act as an unelected co-President and leftist feminists egging her on every step of the way, Laura Bush came on the scene as a refreshing respecter of the electorate, content not to seize power that wasn't...

Laura Bush has single-handedly restored the term, "lady," to the American vocabulary. And she has done it with such rare aplomb that nary a soul seems to have even noticed, which is precisely the way I'm convinced she planned it. I took an instant liking to Laura Bush; I won't deny it. After eight years of Hillary Clinton trying to act as an unelected co-President and leftist feminists egging her on every step of the way, Laura Bush came on the scene as a refreshing respecter of the electorate, content not to seize power that wasn't rightfully hers. What could be...

The following photos may not necessarily be the best photos or the most important but they are chosen because they appeal to me and hopefully to you as well. It maybe because of the content, the expression on the face(s) or just an unusual photo. As there are so many photos I have split this thread into 4 the first one will be January - March, the second April - June, the third July - September and the fourth October - December 2008. I am posting this first part on the first of January 2009 and am aiming to put...

George W. Bush leaves office with a job-approval rating that once soared to historic highs, then fell slowly but steadily for five years before settling, in the last couple of years, into lows that no president has ever experienced for so long. The president’s final Gallup approval rating of 2008 is 28 percent; a number like that means some core Republicans don’t approve of Bush’s performance, and even among the many in the GOP who still approve, there are a number who are ready to see the president go. Bush knows that. The White House staff knows it. But the...

US President George W. Bush spoke to the American Enterprise Institute, a Conservative think tank, at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel in D.C. today and he also participated in a Q&A session. transcript Mrs. Laura Bush led a video teleconference with the Afghan Women Entrepreneurs group, in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington.

HGTV is stepping inside the White House, filled with dozens of decorators, volunteers and staffers, to find out just what it takes to decorate the home of the President and the First Lady for the holidays. Sabrina Soto of Get It Sold hosts.

One highlight of the Bush Administration has been that the first lady, Laura Bush has made literacy a pivotal part of her work with the American people. There are a lot of areas of interest that a first lady can use her power and influence to draw attention to but will Michelle Obama also make literacy an important part of her agenda? With literacy rates on the decline, and educational facilities being last on the list of priorities for many government agencies, Michelle Obama has unique opportunity to use her influence to turn the state of literacy around in the...

WASHINGTON, As the nation turns its attention to the 44th First Family, Americans are invited to tour the White House through C-SPAN's upcoming White House Week, a weeklong presentation of original programming airing December 14th through 20th at 9:00 PM (ET) on C-SPAN. The week debuts with C-SPAN's feature documentary, "The White House: Inside America's Most Famous Home," Sunday, December 14 at 9:00PM (ET). The network continues with six nights of additional White House programming (see attached schedule). C-SPAN was granted extensive access by the First Lady to document the White House in detail, showcasing the architectural beauty and historic...

Today President Bush welcomed Darfur Human Rights Activist Dr. Halima Bashir to the Oval Office. (Transcript) Dr. Bashir has been tortured my militant Muslims throughout her life, most horrifically after she dared to speak out about the abuse of women and young girls in her native Sudan. She tells her story in her book “Tears In The Desert”. President Bush: This good soul brings firsthand accounts to what life is like in Darfur. She has witnessed violence, deprivation, and she carries a message of a lot of people who want our help. First Lady Laura Bush spoke about women’s rights...

The animated Fox show "Family Guy" is known for pushing the political envelope, but what was up with last night's catch phrase, "Laura Bush killed a guy"? Loyal fans love the show for its politically incorrect humor -- it thrives on the "They did NOT just say that" variety of comedy. But Sunday night's episode left some viewers scratching their heads. Lead cartoon characters Peter and Lois Griffin repeated the phrase "Laura Bush killed a guy" several times throughout the show with Peter was dressed as Mrs. Bush and Lois as a bleeding man crisscrossed with tire tracks for a...

WASHINGTON -- First Lady Laura Bush said Wednesday the first couple would be spending their Christmas money on Texas real estate for what she referred to as the "afterlife" - the time when they leave the White House in January after her husband's eight years in office. The couple will be buying a house in Dallas, with plans to spend weekends at their ranch in Crawford."This year, we're going to be very, very careful at Christmas. I suspect that a lot of other American families will be the same," Laura Bush said. "We're going to try to be with each...

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The White House on Wednesday announced its theme for festivities this Christmas, which will be the last one President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush are to spend at the White House. This year's theme, "A Red, White and Blue Christmas," commemorates the "patriotic spirit that unites us as Americans," the first lady's press secretary, Sally Mcdonough, said in a statement. Bush and the First Lady are expected to welcome more than 60,000 visitors this holiday season. The White House has been filled with decorations for the tours, including two 13-foot tall statues of...

Today President Bush was briefed on our progress in stopping the spread of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) around the world. (Fact Sheet: Defending Against Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism ) Press Secretary Dana Perino: This meeting gives the President the opportunity to talk to the commission about their findings and to share with them more about what he thinks about what's happened over the past seven and a half years …We recognize that there is more to do, but what we have done is provided a really good foundation for the next team to be able to take that...

Today President Bush took part in the 61st National Thanksgiving Turkey Ceremony in the White House Rose Garden. (Transcript) This is my final Thanksgiving as the President. Over the past eight years, I have been given many reasons to be thankful. I'm thankful to our men and women in uniform and I am incredibly proud to have been their Commander-in-Chief. (Applause.) I am thankful for the armies of compassion volunteers who feed the hungry and shelter the poor. I am thankful for the teachers and nurses and pastors police officers and firefighters, and others who serve their neighbors and better...

Outgoing US President George W Bush plans to open a presidential library in Texas and found a Freedom Institute to promote democracy, his wife Laura Bush confirmed to Peru's El Comercio daily. "The President will build a library in Dallas, where we will move to, and a Freedom Institute," she said in an interview published on Sunday, as her husband wrapped up his participation in a weekend summit in Lima by Asia-Pacific leaders. "The institute will give us both the opportunity to work on issues that are very important to us," she said, according to the Spanish-language translation by the...

Today President Bush traveled to Lima, Peru to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. This will be his final trip abroad as President. Traveling with President Bush are Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley and Press Secretary Dana Perino. The President spoke about the APEC summit in his Weekly Radio Address, which was recorded and released today. (Transcript) This summit comes at a time of serious turmoil in the global economy. It also comes at a time of unprecedented cooperation. A week ago in Washington, I hosted the first in what will be a series...

Today President & Mrs. Bush attended the reopening of the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. The museum had been closed two years for renovations. After speaking (Transcript), the President and First Lady joined five new citizens (one of them a US Marine) as they took the oath of citizenship and pledged allegiance to the flag. Today, I'm delighted to congratulate five of you who will be taking your oath of citizenship in just a few moments. Though you are originally from France, Germany, Guyana, Lebanon, and Peru, today you're becoming members of the American family. We welcome...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Touring the White House, Michelle Obama did what any prospective homebuyer might do: Check out the closet space. "I showed her the closets. I showed her all the things that women are interested in," Mrs. Bush told CNN in an interview broadcast on Friday. "But I didn't try to give her a lot of advice. I know she knows that she can make it home, and that's what she wants to do." President George W. Bush and the first lady gave President-elect Barack Obama and his wife private tours of the White House on Monday to get...

First Lady Laura Bush condemned on Thursday a recent assault on Afghani schoolgirls, describing the act as "cowardly and shameful." On Wednesday adult male attackers used a water pistol to spray acid at schoolgirls in Afghanistan's southern city of Kandahar, hurting 15 of them, three seriously. "My heart goes out to the victims and their families as they recover from this cruel attack," said Bush in a statement. Kandahar and other large Afghan cities have suffered from a surge of assassinations and bombings by the radical Islamist Taliban movement. Bush commended Afghani women and girls for thriving in a country...

In his weekly radio address President Bush said, "So my Administration will work hard to ensure that the next President and his team can hit the ground running. For more than a year now, the White House and agencies throughout the Federal government have been preparing for a smooth transition. We've provided intelligence briefings to the President-Elect, and the Department of Justice has approved security clearances for members of his transition staff. In the coming weeks, we will ask Administration officials to brief the Obama team on major ongoing policy issues, ranging from the financial markets to the war in...

Today the President met with his cabinet in the Cabinet Room of the White House. The President also Discusses the Transition with Employees of the Executive Office of the President on the South Lawn of the White House. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Israel. Pray for President Bush - Day 2976. Enjoy Sanity Island

Laura Bush invites around Obama family From correspondents in Chicago, Illinois Agence France-Presse November 06, 2008 12:16pm MICHELLE Obama spoke by telephone with First Lady Laura Bush today who invited her to visit the White House in the coming weeks, an Obama spokeswoman said. A day after her husband Barack Obama's historic election win, Michelle Obama thanked Laura Bush "for the grace and strength she's demonstrated as First Lady and expressed appreciation for her guidance in the coming months,'' the spokeswoman. "Mrs Bush extended an invitation for Mrs Obama and her two daughters to visit the White House in the...

Today First Lady Laura Bush attended a campaign rally in Shepherdsville, Ky. Yesterday the the First lady attended a First Bloom Event at Trinity River Audubon Center in Dallas Texas. Pray for President Bush -- Day 2973 - McCain/Palin--Day 67. On the eve of the election Sarah Palin was in Ohio, Missouri, Iowa and Colorado and will be travelling to Alaska later tonight. Enjoy Sanity Island

Today President George W. Bush attended the graduation ceremony for Federal Bureau of Investigation special agents at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va The First lady attended a get out the vote rally in in Gulfport, Miss today. Pray for President Bush -- Day 2969 - McCain/Palin--Day 63. Sarah Palin was in Mo and Pa campaigning today Enjoy Sanity Island

Today President George W. Bush met with President Fernando Lugo of Paraguay. The President and first lady Laura Bush attended a ceremony in honor of Theodore Roosevelt's 150th birthday at the White House. Pray for President Bush -- Day 2966 - McCain/Palin--Day 60. Sarah Palin was in Virgina today Enjoy Sanity Island